Voting in your Local Council Elections
On 3rd May 2007, the system for electing councillors will change to a form of Proportional Representation known as Single Transferable Vote (STV).
The size of the council ward will be increased and either three or four Councillors will be elected to each ward.
When you vote you will be asked to rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3 etc) rather than by making a single choice with a cross (X).
Put a "1" beside the candidate you like best, then a "2" beside your second choice, "3" beside your third choice and so on. You can express preferences for as many or as few candidates as you like.
The numbers you use must be in sequence. If you make a mistake, your vote will be valid up to when you made the error – for example, if you miss out a "4" and just rank 1, 2, 3 and 5, only your first three preferences will be valid.
The candidates you vote for may be from the same party, from several different parties or be independents – but every single choice counts!
If your first choice has already won enough votes to be elected, or is eliminated as a result of having the least number of votes, then your vote is transferred to your second choice and potentially on to your third choice and so on, until either three or four candidates have been elected, depending on the size of the ward.
Download this Detailed Description of an STV Count (PDF, 95KB)
Key Points
- You will be asked to rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3 etc).
- Put a "1" beside the candidate you like best, then a "2" beside your second choice and so on.
- If your first choice has won enough votes to be elected, or is eliminated as a result of having the least number of votes, then your vote is transferred to your second choice.
Not sure what happens when you go to vote?
Take a look at our short animated movie so you know exactly what to expect when you go to vote on 3rd May.